


Ephemeral Bodies, Eternal Minds

by PuzzleBot



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: OH NO I STARTED A NEW THING!!, however it will... get... less sad?, just a warning it starts sad, maybe? - Freeform, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-01 06:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11480688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuzzleBot/pseuds/PuzzleBot
Summary: What happened? When did this kingdom turn to ice and ash? And what happened before the end of days?Who is Aurora, really?Heavily inspired by this post I made a while back:puzzlebot.tumblr.com/post/162661061076/okay-but-what-if





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

A room, darkened by the thick curtains drawn across the windows; a bed, soft with velveteen sheets; a family, thicker than thieves, but soon to be torn apart. This was the setting of a cold afternoon in the temple that housed the Azran royalty. This was the setting on the first day of a new era.

 

“Beloved child… Be brave, be wise, and do not let this life harden you. Do not let my _death_ harden you. The people of this kingdom adore you, and I trust you to lead them well.”

 

“But, Father, I don’t want to see you die…! Curse this illness, and curse the elders! Why… Why haven’t they come back yet…? They said they’d find you a cure, that elixir-”

 

“My child, hush,” the father raised his frail, trembling hand with the crumbling authority of a king, “It was too little, too late… We must look towards the future, now - the future that _you_ will lead. Come here, Aurora…”

 

With a gentle cry, the girl moved from where she had been sitting and curled into the fading warmth of her father’s side. He held her close, and she indulged herself in the feeling - knowing this was the last time. At the door, a golem stood stationary, its head bowed to give the family a sense of privacy in the intimate last moments. It watched as the princess - too young to be losing a second parent - listened to hoarse whispers of advice and love, and cried openly.

 

“My dear,” spoke the king to the princess, “You have the blood of a long line of powerful queens running through you. Nocte would have been so proud to see how you’ve grown.”

  
  
“Father, I… I’m _scared_ … I know that I won’t be alone, but… It’s not _blood_ alone that makes a good ruler, and I don’t know if I can do it without you…! Father, I don’t want you to die… I’m not ready to lose you...” Aurora devolved now into sobs, her arms tight around her father’s uncharacteristically thin torso, “I don’t want you to go…!”

 

“Yes, darling, your word is my command.” A smile graced the king’s slack face, taking most of his energy to do so, “But-” He wheezed, cutting the end of his own sentence short, and fear shone in his dull blue eyes for a second. The panic found itself reflected in the young girl as she turned to the golem at the door.

 

“Get someone…!” She demanded, her usual gentle requests vanishing in the fear of losing her father. The golem bowed its head and disappeared instantly through the thick curtain that separated the king’s chambers from the rest of the temple. Aurora couldn’t hear the soft beeps of communication beneath her own sobs. Her father’s hands no longer held her - instead just rested where they fell.

 

“King Meridies…!” In rushed an attendant, one of the few humans that they staffed nowadays, leading in the kingdom’s top scientists, “King-”

 

Then, a softer voice cut across the sounds of a kingdom beginning to crack, “Princess Aurora, your highness… Please perform the Final Rite…”

 

But the girl on the bed could barely even raise her head, let alone recite her first act as the leader of the Azran. Instead, she sobbed almost furiously into her father’s bedclothes, her entire body heaving with each sound that tore itself from her throat.

 

And the voice again - it belonged to one of the Great Scientists, “Princess, please… Do not damn your father simply because of your grief.”

 

This time, Aurora rose her head, showing a face painted red by loss and eyes strained from tears. She looked around the room, upon her _subjects_ , she realised with a chilling blast.

 

“I c-can’t remember it, Lumas… I don’t know- What it is…!”

 

“ _Yes_ , you do, Princess. Say it with me, hm?” Great Scientist Lumas crouched down beside her and carefully took her hands in his, “King Meridies of the Azran…”

 

“King- King Meridies of the Azran. Go t-to your final rest, and look- Look…”

 

“Look down upon us…”

 

“Look down upon us from the ancient skies. Bless- Bless our eternal kingdom with your guidance.” Aurora slipped her hands away from those of Lumas, a weak smile growing behind a still tearstained face, “Though y-your body may now perish, your mind shall lead our people and I - Princess Aurora of the Azran - to a glorious future without end.”

 

With that, all went quiet. The princess turned away from her already pale father and left the room before anyone could stop her, followed close behind by her golem, who kept perfect pace.

 

“What am I to do…? I can’t be queen- I’m not ready…”

 

She had found her way to the temple’s inner garden, and her golem had let down all pretense of formality, letting itself be clung to by the young woman. It beeped, and Aurora could only imagine that it was in mourning too. She was one of the few that believed they could _feel_ , and a that moment, the empathy the two shared was welcomed more than ever. With a deep sniffle, she looked up, noticing its chipped wing and frowning.

 

“If I can’t even look after you, how am I to look after a kingdom?” She questioned, to which it beeped again, this time a lower, more soothing tone, “I- Well, I suppose… Do you mean to say that I’m not alone?”

 

The golem moved away a placed its hand on Aurora’s head, imitating a move it had seen her and her father share a million times over. She sighed softly, but as she went to hold onto it once more, it stepped back. Aurora watched curiously, then found herself gasping with delight. The golem had bent down onto one knee, as if pledging its allegiance to her, its quite beeps creating a crude representation of the Azran’s coronation music. Despite herself, Aurora found herself laughing, a small, sad smile growing across her face.

 

And so began the reign of young Queen Aurora - friend to Azran and Golem alike; loved by all her people; final monarch of the Azran.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year after her coronation, Aurora is comforted by the one closest to her.

“Queen Aurora, do this! Queen Aurora, do that! Your majesty, Queen - damn - Aurora!” The exhausted queen muttered furiously as she paced back and forth near her window, “All I can do is try! It’s hardly been an orbis and they expect me to know everything! I’m sick of it, Crum!”

 

The golem at the door tilted its head, the chipped wing clanking ungracefully in its loose joint before being quickly, clumsily corrected again. Aurora looked over as she cast her headpiece onto her bed, sighing.

 

“Sorry, Crum, it’s just all so much… You’re the only one that actually listens any more…” She chuckled, an empty facsimile of her father’s hearty roars, “I know I haven’t been spending as much time with you these last few exol, too… Even when the Great Advisors go to speak in place of ‘one so young’, they make me stay behind and  _ study _ . What makes them so ‘great’, anyway?”

 

With a mournful, low tone, the golem - Crum, as Aurora had named it - clomped over to the window of the room and opened its curtains, a meaningful look in the queen’s direction urging her to come over. Aurora pouted, but obliged, looking out of the window at her kingdom.

 

Golems moved back and forth, in what looked like conversation with each other as they worked and lived. Others would say it was meaningless gibberish tones, but to Aurora, it was music; music that told one just how each golem felt. Because they  _ did _ feel, Aurora knew that. Looking to Crum, she wondered what they were feeling, then looked back out of the window. Alongside the golems, the Azran people built and traded and laughed and loved… How much had changed since her father passed, already…

 

Was that what Crum was trying to tell her? That she was… Making a difference? Making her mark as queen of the Azran?

 

“Crum… Why do the songs seem happier now? Why do the golems sing more…?” She asked softly, knowing the answer lied within her, “Is it… Truly because of my rule?”

 

And the golem inclined its head. Aurora smiled softly in response. Anyone who didn’t believe the golems had feelings needed only to look at Crum; understand that they helped more than anyone else when it came to calming her down. She hummed the coronation song as she continued to look out the window, her mind soothed from its tempest.

 

“There are people who hate me, Crum,” she said pensively, “Of course, they don’t dare say anything, but I can see it in their eyes. They hate me for loving the golems, and for neglecting my duties to see what the Great Scientists are developing for you next, and for me being… Well, everything my father  _ wasn’t _ … I think even people within these walls hate me, the Great Advisors, and the Scientists... That’s scary… Because hate is only opposed by love, and…. Sometimes it feels as if hate is stronger. And if that’s so, perhaps those who hate me will do something about it. What happens when they do? I suppose I’m asking… Will you stand by me?”

 

Crum bowed, its tones growing from the comforting low tones to excited, ones that sounded almost indignant. They had never been good at hiding their feelings, Aurora observed, her smile growing.

 

“I suppose you’re saying I shouldn’t doubt my most loyal? Well… You’re right, as usual…But I sometimes have a feeling that you’ll be the only one loyal to me one day…” She shook her head tiredly, then turned away from her view of the kingdom at last, “Shall we go and see if Lumas worked out a way to fix that wing of yours yet?”

 

With that, she smiled, refusing to give any more of her time to the thoughts clouding her mind. Crum was always a listener, and talking them out helped, but sometimes a distraction was more apt. Today seemed to be one of those times. She led the way from the room with a small hum, chattering away about this-and-that as they walked together towards the quarters of the Great Scientists until…

 

“Queen Aurora!” The Great Scientist Lumas cried out in surprise as he opened the door, quickly stepping out and closing it behind him before bowing, “It’s an honour to see you down here - once again.”

 

“Lumas - you seem… Flustered…” Aurora observed, her voice instantly taking on its more affected, regal tones, “May we come in?”

 

The scientist’s eyes widened, but he shook his head all the same, “My- My greatest apologies, my Queen, but it’s currently unsafe in there. The other Great Scientists and I have hit upon a new innovation for the golems and we’re in the middle of testing. Of course, when we’re done, we’d be more than happy to show you, but right now would be… Not ideal. Your majesty.”

 

Aurora’s eyebrows raised, then furrowed, and for a moment it looked as if she were going to object. What could be so dangerous about a test? She wanted to ask. After all, she’d been allowed to see them before… Ah. Before she was queen.

 

“At least tell me you know how to fix Crum’s wing now…?” She sighed, meeting the squat, mousey man’s eyes.

 

“‘Crum’, your majesty? Who is…” The golem behind Aurora stepped forward to answer the question, “... Ah.”

 

“Well?” Aurora tapped her foot against the dark blue stone floor, and despite her disdain for her role, she seemed to exert the pressure of a queen who had been in her role for much longer than she had been.

 

“Yes- Yes, majesty,” Lumas finally regained his composure, nodding as a thoughtful smile crossed his face, “I’m certain we’ll be able to fix it. We’ll keep it here until then, yes?”

 

Aurora nodded, her fears allayed for now, and her focus slowly returning to normal. She allowed Crum to leave her side, and smiled as Lumas hurried them inside, bowing all the way.

 

That was her mistake. Sometimes, fears are better listened to than rationalised away. In every kernel of anxiety, there is truth. In every kingdom, there are rebels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would it be apt for me to put a three face here
> 
> I'm gonna put a three face here
> 
> >:3c
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter; stay tuned for more!


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